Specialty Support Funding

– Responsible for approving any new requests for funding/activity,

– Review and approve/reject any significant changes to existing activity/costs.

– Responsible for confirming funding is available via england.wxpduspecialtysupport.se@nhs.net before approving any subsequent requests to run additional events in-year.

– Resolve issues if activities take place without the appropriate approvals or supporting evidence.

– Manage their School’s budget and the Discretionary Budget in line with the guidance below and the principles of NHS England Standing Financial Instructions and NHS England Expenses policy.

– Follow the instructions below.

– In line with any direct requests, submit course forecasts and information to NHSE at the start of the financial year for each budget line/NC code.

– Obtain approval for any new activity.

– Review and advise the Head of School and england.wxpduspecialtysupport.se@nhs.net of any significant changes to existing activity/costs, including requests for additional events.

– Do not run any additional events in-year (to those already approved) without first obtaining approval from the Head of School. If approval has been provided by the Head of School, inform england.wxpduspecialtysupport.se@nhs.net.

– Ensure that Event Leads for their activities follow the instructions below.

– Follow the instructions below.

– Obtain approval for any new activity or significant changes (increases) to estimated costs via the Course Lead (or Head of School direct) as appropriate.

– Do not run any additional events in-year without first obtaining approval from the Course Lead (or Head of School direct) as appropriate.

– Complete and submit a Post-Event Confirmation and Authority to Process Payments form to england.wxpduspecialtysupport.se@nhs.net within 1 week after each event

– Submit all claims and invoices within 1 month of the completion of the training activity (unless there are justifiable reasons why these cannot be presented promptly), including receipts or proof of payment for all costs claimed.

– Ensure all faculty who contributed to an event are made aware of:

(i) how to submit a claim (i.e. give them a link to this webpage)

(ii) how many hours you are expecting(authorising) them to claim for (e.g. if they attend an event for a whole day but lecture for 2 hours of it, then NHSE will expect them to only claim for delivery of 2 hours)

(iii) the course code (normally a number beginning with “NC”) as a reference for submitting their claim.

Free venues must be booked where possible. Where it is not possible to book a free venue:

– Trust and specialist facilities (e.g. simulation suites) can be funded.

– The most cost-effective venue must be sourced/booked.

– Please contact us (england.wxpduspecialtysupport.se@nhs.net) regarding options before booking any commercial venues (e.g. hotels). Please consider using Explorer House for large events and events that cannot be accommodated in Trusts:  Explorer House has great facilities, is set up to run hybrid events, has free parking and public transport links, and has a discounted rate for NHS events and it is possible to book and secure and pay for rooms under bespoke NHSE contract arrangements; this is not the case for other commercial venues (e.g. hotels). 

For venue payments, the preferred method is direct invoice to the Wessex PDU (see below).

Equipment must be borrowed where possible. Where it is not possible to borrow equipment:

– Limited equipment may be funded

– england.wxpduspecialtysupport.se@nhs.net must be informed of any intended purchases before any commitment is made.

– The most cost-effective supplier must be sourced/booked

Preferred payment method – direct invoice to the Wessex PDU (see below)

The process for paying Actors/Patients/Volunteers has changed. Please do not issue payments to new or existing actors, patients or other volunteers and claim on their behalf. Actors/Patients/Volunteers will need to be paid directedly by NHSE or via their employer, and only if NHSE approval is received for payment for their services.

NHSE is still unable to pay any new Actors/Patients/Volunteers etc at all until further notice. The national New Suppliers process is under development.

With immediate effect (26 Aug 2026), NHSE is unable to pay previous/existing Actors/Patients/Volunteers unless they have registered under the new Employed for Tax Purposes (EFTP) reimbursement process, which will use ESR and EASY to facilitate payment from 1 September 2026. If you have not received confirmation of registration, then you cannot be paid via NHSE. If you need check whether someone is registered, please email a request to england.wxpduspecialtysupport.se@nhs.net and state their forename and surname. See here for more information: on Changes to Paying Faculty.

New Faculty: NHSE is still unable to pay any new facilitators//speakers/actors/patients/volunteers etc at all until further notice. The national New Suppliers process is under development. So, unless you have arranged direct payment via their employing Trust, please do not commit to any services from a new supplier, as there is no guarantee of payment from NHSE, and associated costs will be the responsibility of the individual who booked the new facilitator/actor/patient.

Previous/existing facilitators: With immediate effect, NHSE is unable to pay previous/existing facilitators//speakers/actors/patients/volunteers unless they have been registered under the new Employed for Tax Purposes (EFTP) reimbursement process, which will use ESR and EASY to facilitate payment from 1 September 2026. If you have not received confirmation of registration, then you cannot be paid via NHSE. So, unless you have arranged a direct payment via their employing Trust, please do not commit to any services from a previous/existing facilitator/speaker/actor/patient/volunteer unless you have 100% confirmation from them or NHSE that they are registered under the new Employed for Tax Purposes (EFTP) reimbursement process. Otherwise there is no guarantee of payment from NHSE, and associated costs will be the responsibility of the individual who booked the facilitator/actor/patient. If you need check whether someone is registered, please email a request to england.wxpduspecialtysupport.se@nhs.net and state their forename and surname. See here for more information: on Changes to Paying Faculty.

General guidance

It is appreciated that time and effort go into organising and delivering training events, therefore event organisers/lecturers/examiners can claim for their time, within the following guidelines:

– Time to prepare and/or deliver specialty support activity can be funded providing the course organiser/lecturer/examiner has carried out the work in their own time.

– Time cannot be funded if course organiser/lecturer/examiner has supported the activity during trust/SPA/study leave time, or the time can be offset against any of these.

– The Wessex PDU’s standard clinical lecture rate is currently £72.91 per hour (minimum of 1 hour paid) – in line with the annual NHS Employers Pay and Conditions Circular (£109.37 per 1.5 hours). There will be no back-payments for retrospective changes to these rates.

– For any other non-standard clinical lecture rates, such as administrative support, or claims for more than the above hourly rate, please liaise with the Wessex PDU (england.wxpduspecialtysupport.se@nhs.net) regarding arrangements and to make sure you have specific approval in advance.

Please see the Payment Methods section below.

Payment methods:

Faculty (including Consultants), lecturers, speakers, actors, patients and volunteers):

NHSE is still unable to pay any new Actors/Patients/Volunteers etc travel and parking expenses etc until further notice. The national New Suppliers process is under development.

If you have been registered under the new Employed for Tax Purposes (EFTP) reimbursement process, you can claim the following:

– Travel and car parking expenses can be funded (parking receipts are required)
– If travelling by car, mileage is claimable at 45p per mile

Payment method – via the new Employed For Tax Purposes (EFTP) reimbursement process, which will use ESR and EASY to facilitate payment. Please see the Payment Methods section below.

Delegates (Resident Doctors):

Resident Doctors attending an event as a delegate cannot claim travel and car parking expenses via Specialty Support as they should be claimed back via the employing trusts.

Unfortunately NHSE is unable to fund gifts, including gifts in lieu of payment. 

Where an individual or team’s deserves thanks or special recognition, then it is recommended that you write a letter of appreciation and CC in the relevant contacts, e.g. their line manager, Training Programme Director and/or Head of School as appropriate. If they require remuneration for their preparation or delivery time, please see the Preparation and delivery time section (above).

Unfortunately NHSE is unable to fund any prizes or awards of any description. 

Where an individual or team’s contribution deserves special recognition, then it is recommended that you write a letter of appreciation and CC in the relevant contacts, e.g. their line manager, Training Programme Director and/or Head of School as appropriate.

With effect from 10 April 2025, we have been instructed to follow NHS England regional policy, and our default across the South East is not to fund refreshments or catering for any events, meetings, courses, conferences, etc that are run by NHSE or on behalf of NHSE for NHS staff.
 
We appreciate this change may impact and create additional challenges for you and other stakeholders, but you will also be aware of the financial challenges being faced across the whole of the NHS; and this approach to catering and refreshments will bring us into line with the rest of NHSE, and ensure that we protect available resource to best support delivery of necessary activity.

With effect from 10 April 2025, we have been instructed to follow NHS England regional policy, and our default across the South East is not to fund refreshments or catering for any events, meetings, courses, conferences, etc that are run by NHSE or on behalf of NHSE for NHS staff.
 
We appreciate this change may impact and create additional challenges for you and other stakeholders, but you will also be aware of the financial challenges being faced across the whole of the NHS; and this approach to catering and refreshments will bring us into line with the rest of NHSE, and ensure that we protect available resource to best support delivery of necessary activity.

We are unable to fund dinners, including working dinners for faculty.

If you are hoping to obtain funding to run an activity, you will need to liaise with your Head of School asap regarding an outline plan and estimated costs. Additionally, you will need to complete the following full application form for Head of School and NHS England review and approval: Wessex PDU New Activity Funding Application Form.

Due to financial pressures within NHSE and the wider NHS, unfortunately, with effect from 2 May 2025 any funding approvals for recurring activities expired.

Any activities to be run after 1 April 2026 will need to be approved as part of the submission process issued to Heads of School on 26 May 2026. Course Leads will be informed if and when approval to run a course has been issued.

a. Wessex Delegates. If you are receiving funding from the Wessex Specialty Support budget to run the activity then you should not be charging Wessex delegates an attendance fee.

b. Non-Wessex Delegates. If you plan to charge an attendance fee for non-Wessex doctors then you should let us know in advance. As a minimum, you will need to record such delegates’ names, specialty, employing Trust and Region so that we can arrange a transfer of the payment.

From 1 September 2026 Facilitators/speakers/actors/patients/volunteers who have been registered under the new Employed for Tax Purposes (EFTP) reimbursement process, can submit claims using ESR and EASY.

To enable us to identify the activity and authorise payment, please ensure that you enter the full Course/Budget Code (usually beginning with “NC”), Event Name and Event Date(s) within the free text “speech bubble” on EASY.

Please see the EASY System Guidance for Claimants document for more information.

Suppliers/trusts (not including individual facilitators/lecturers/speakers/actors/patients/volunteers) can use direct invoice. You must include the following information on invoices to the Wessex PDU; please just forward (copy & paste) the following bullets and invoice address to any supplier who requires our invoice details:

– Training activity title (e.g. O&G Regional Teaching)
– Event date
– Venue
– Reference: XXJAVENALL
– Invoice Address:

NHS ENGLAND
CBA033 PAYABLES K005
PO BOX 312
LEEDS                                      
LS11 1HP  

In some cases, it may be necessary for the PDU to raise a Purchase Order (PO) – if you require a PO, please contact us. Suppliers should include the corresponding PO number in the invoice that they raise, due to an automated scanning system. Please advise suppliers that it can take up to 6 weeks for payment to be received.

In exceptional circumstances trusts can purchase items and/or pay suppliers’ invoices on behalf of the Wessex PDU, and raise an invoice to the Wessex PDU to seek reimbursement, using the information in the “Direct Invoice” section above.